where do you find fulfillment?

[tinyglacier]

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hello forum,

i'm an occasional lurker, but this is my first time posting. i am an ms3 nearing the end of third year, with a rotation that has a nasty rep and ridiculous hours looming over my head next week, and i am feeling rather discouraged with my career choice. i am just wondering where people find fulfillment in this work. especially in light of the fact that i understand much better now that i find a lot of my fulfillment in spending time with my wonderful significant other and my close family - obviously limited by this career. i had originally written a much longer post, but upon rereading it decided that i probably did not want it in the public record 😉 so suffice it to say, i am just wondering how much burnout is normal at the end of third year, and where my light at the end of the tunnel is. thanks for any thoughts.

 

[ilovepath]

I think you need to find stimulation. For me, it was something more scientific, and I think that came either through path or rads...I'm interested to hear responses too. I see alot of ppl switch into path, esp after they came from a more ego-driven path like surg...I'm not saying everyone doing surg is purely driven by ego, I'm sure with a lot it's a kinesthetic appeal.

 

[sideways]

You sound about 10 steps ahead of your peers in that you realize a lot of medicine is a self-perpetuating pool of sacrifice and competition. And at the end of the day - for what?

The best advice I've ever heard for specialty selection is: know thyself.

You seem to be realizing that you want medicine to be a job, not something that sucks the very marrow of your being. There's room for people like you in medicine, you just have to wade through the marshes a bit more, and pick your specialty wisely.

 

[pupster]

hello forum,

i'm an occasional lurker, but this is my first time posting. i am an ms3 nearing the end of third year, with a rotation that has a nasty rep and ridiculous hours looming over my head next week, and i am feeling rather discouraged with my career choice. i am just wondering where people find fulfillment in this work. especially in light of the fact that i understand much better now that i find a lot of my fulfillment in spending time with my wonderful significant other and my close family - obviously limited by this career. i had originally written a much longer post, but upon rereading it decided that i probably did not want it in the public record 😉 so suffice it to say, i am just wondering how much burnout is normal at the end of third year, and where my light at the end of the tunnel is. thanks for any thoughts.

Think you've pretty much summed up how I felt 3rd year. I thought I wanted to do a surgical subspecialty going into med. school. After 3rd year, I wasn't even sure I wanted to continue. By 4th year, I had only found one thing that I really enjoyed; if I hadn't matched into. derm., I'd probably have gone back to doing management consulting....

As for advice, make sure to take time for yourself. Realize that medicine isn't necessarily a calling and that there IS a life outside of work. Keeping those things will keep you grounded.

 

[smq123]

Moved to allopathic.

 

[BigRedBeta]

Fulfillment occurrs in many different ways and forms. Think about how different your role is as a friend vs as a sibling/son/daughter vs being a student. All those have very different ways of quantifying success or fulfillment, some of which are intertwined, but not with perfect overlap. The difficult part is of course that there's only so much time in the day, and when work/school takes up so much, you have to sacrifice some.

Fulfillment from your career will be more easily found when you've entered the specialty that really excites you. I promise you that every resident, fellow and attending can point to times during third year or during residency where they hated what they were doing, and that the thought that anyone would find a particular field satisfying completely absurd. For example, as someone who is going into pediatric critical care, I can't figure out why (once you get past the dollar signs) anyone would actually want to be a dermatologist...but I fully understand that many of my fellow residents and friends from medical school, who are all great doctors, find my love of the PICU disturbing. You have to find the specialty that's right for you. I would never be happy as a dermatologist or radiologist, or even as a general pediatrician. And that's okay, I'm thankful there are people out there who do find those roles perfect for them. Medicine needs all types.

The bottom line is that you don't have to love every rotation. You'll get through this, and then be able to focus on what field really matters to you.

 

[Perrotfish]

hello forum,

i'm an occasional lurker, but this is my first time posting. i am an ms3 nearing the end of third year, with a rotation that has a nasty rep and ridiculous hours looming over my head next week, and i am feeling rather discouraged with my career choice. i am just wondering where people find fulfillment in this work. especially in light of the fact that i understand much better now that i find a lot of my fulfillment in spending time with my wonderful significant other and my close family - obviously limited by this career. i had originally written a much longer post, but upon rereading it decided that i probably did not want it in the public record 😉 so suffice it to say, i am just wondering how much burnout is normal at the end of third year, and where my light at the end of the tunnel is. thanks for any thoughts.

MS3 burnout is common

Yes it gets better, if for no other reason than that you won't sign up for a field you hate, while we all have to rotations that we know are awful. In the short term it will very shortly get better for at least a year, because M4 just doesn't involve that much work.

If you want to spend more time with family you can tailor your career so that you can. There are many medical professionals who do 3-4 year residencies and then keep bankers hours for the rest of their life. If that's what you want.

 

[Lil Mick]

I'm not an MS3 yet, but, whenever I feel burned out or just off and cannot unwind the way I would prefer, I try to be of service to others wherever I can (open the door for a patient...) and try to meditate for as long as I can (even if it's five minutes on bathroom break or whatever). It usually keeps me from thinking about being unhappy or discontent in the situation...

 

[OpalOnyx]

I'm not an MS3 yet, but, whenever I feel burned out or just off and cannot unwind the way I would prefer, I try to be of service to others wherever I can (open the door for a patient...) and try to meditate for as long as I can (even if it's five minutes on bathroom break or whatever). It usually keeps me from thinking about being unhappy or discontent in the situation...

Exactly. Meditation stops the mind from thinking the thoughts that might bother you. In the same way, realize and recognize the signs of burnout and the fact that you have to choose a speciality to suit your needs.

Recognize the proactive fact of what you must now do. But do not dwell on the negative aspects - burnout, quitting, etc.... you can't wrestle these problems to the ground, let it go. Be a solution allower as opposed to a problem creator. Let these negative things take care of themselves, now that you know what YOU need to do (which field you should go into).

 

[tinyglacier]

thanks for the thoughts everyone. i occasionally need reminding to adjust my perspective (something having those other people in your life is great for!), and hearing others' ideas on the matter is helping me to feel better as well. some of my mini-crisis also likely had to do with my recent completion of "house of god," and now that's out of the way as well 😉

happy easter!